Guinness-sponsored rapper dropping truth bombs, MC Whirter. #IsThisAnything

Wow, he looks just like him!

ATLANTIS WISHED (Anagram-Sonnet) Within sad slate, wind halts a site. The island waits, sans tidal white. Awe hits its land— At dawn, this isle tilts wise a hand. It stands awhile. In wash, last tide, the sand it wails. Wan salt, it hides its wit and shale. Its death in laws, it lies and thaws.

Congratulations to Iceland on becoming a woman.

I set today’s Daily Telegraph Toughie crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Put off hack? (7) Food prepared it’s wiser to keep hot? (5,4)

I wrote a blog post for @mycrossword.co.uk about how setters can identify and calibrate how difficult (or otherwise) their own puzzles are: www.mycrossword.co.uk/blog/the-dif... If you’re a setter, an aspiring setter or just curious as to how these things work - give it 4 minutes of your time! 😊

Are you a massive fan of The Celebrity Traitors looking for your next fix of nail-biting tension and diabolical deception? Well you won't find it in this video solve of one of my Daily Telegraph cryptic crosswords, so I probably shouldn't have mentioned it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHkb...

I set today’s cryptic crossword in the Daily Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Ready to take someone out? (5,5) Distinctive feature, one on Mars possibly (5,4) Busy flat beginning to trouble female university student (8)

I got there eventually, with one spectacular initial double fail for No.3! Good fun.

Typhoon heading towards Vietnam where many have already died in the past week's floods? Let's go with this thumbnail!

And here’s my latest cartoon for @faroutmagazine.co.uk faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-squire...

I set today’s cryptic crossword in The Independent, free to solve online here: puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti... Heading off, get syrup (3) 'Misty' not covered by chamber musician (7) Wild fellow managed revolutionary sex clubs (7)

I set today’s prize Toughie in the Sunday Telegraph www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Uncovered cryptic clue for sailor (5,5) Number, short, sweet and old: 'It's Impossible' (2,3,2)

"Ridin' along in my automobile / My baby beside me at the wheel" It's Chuck's car, but is he driving, or is she? Worth asking the person next to you on the bus, anyway.

LAMENT OF A CARVED WOODEN OWL (Palindrome) Too honed, am I not? I sleep, I do. Owl as a basal wood. I peel, sit on.... I made no hoot.

I set today’s Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Type of crossword clue designed to be hard, generally (6,3,5) Facing carpeting, as crash-mat might be (3,3,4,4)

I know I posted this on Twitter ages ago, but I came across it again last night and thought some may not have seen it yet. (From the Not the Nine O'Clock News spin-off book, 1980.)

Slobbering maniac starts to chew Unch rabidly (3)

Oh God, I think I'm at the wrong event.

I set today’s Telegraph cryptic: www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Device that picks up plate after you’ve stepped on it? (5,6) I can have Top Gear suspended (8)

I set today’s prize Toughie in the Sunday Telegraph: www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Single mum ran into bar upset with me (2,10,3) Contemptible person taking in adult now and then, right? (8)

I set today's Telegraph cryptic www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ First tough problem, zero Fahrenheit inside immersion heater (7,2,4) Gather leaves together with me (5,4)

In case any cruciverbaliserators here haven't seen the 2008 BBC Timeshift documentary on cryptics, it's here on Vimeo: vimeo.com/297517318

A RECIPE FOR EVIL (Palindrome) Evil: Oats. Apple. Kiwi. Kelp. Pasta. Olive.

New to my Etsy shop, baseball cap for crossword setters. Ideal for Sloggers & Betters events, or if you just want to be left alone. [Only 3000 in stock]

I set today’s Daily Telegraph Toughie crossword telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Star, Moon and Newton in Brian Cox show (10) Simple Simon was so alone (7)

I set today’s Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Hand out punishment? (4,2,3,5) Road crew’s machines restore small unstable … (5-7) … crack with tar for free (7) Review blog here: bigdave44.com/2025/09/10/d...

🚨 UK PRE-ORDERS ARE OPEN 🚨 Roll up roll up - assure yourself a copy of Unch now! Visit: unchcrosswords.com#shop

I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Debut novel 7 years ago. Two-initial pseudonym to emulate P.D. James and now no one believes I wrote it. #Middlemarch #Cats

I set today’s Sunday Telegraph prize Toughie www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Superior dentures should not have a rattle (5) Oath that might be taken by editor (9) Lose it when a grandmother’s stuck under upturned Portaloo? (2,7)

Reminds me that Peggy Mitchell in EastEnders once shouted 'Get out of my pub, you're barred!' to a bloke wearing a Mephisto T-shirt. #Unfollow

I set today’s Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Article about Lineker ultimately backing female football pundit (7) Bent copper failed to get top spot (5,2,5) Producer of ‘Hairspray’ under pressure? (7)

Tractor the Future Get Carthorse The Manure Fell to Earth

Magazine Scottish psychiatrist wanted in institution (4)

😁

BATTLE OF BOSWORTH FIELD (Palindrome) Drowsy brawl. A York royal. War by sword. #Bosworth #OTD

Prize* deadline now past, the solutions and explanations are here: bigdave44.com/2025/08/20/s... * Lunch with the setter. Winner pays all food and travel costs.

Walked the hound this evening across what used to be a forest of larches, many of which came down in Storms Darragh and Éowyn, and which have now been harvested. The area will be replanted with a mixture of native broad-leaved trees this winter. [Attention stalkers: my house is in the photo]

Crossword hive mind - is it unforgivable to have 3 hidden clues in one puzzle? (None of which are reversals.)

That's half an hour I'll never get back.

" ... Sessions."

Nightlife's a boozy zoo: Base filth. Gin. #palindrome

I set today’s Daily Telegraph cryptic crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Film streaming on Apple, 'The Feast' (6,2,3,4) Stirring up soy, chef briefly making this? (4,4) Returning from injury, fit? Certainly better (7)

I set today’s Sunday Telegraph prize Toughie www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ Graves will probably be dug by this aficionado (9) Learner driver stuck in pit, getting AA (5) Fragile ego principally smitten with Mars trips (8) Price departs, but this keeps The Animals going (4) #OneForTheTeenagers

Join me for an afternoon learning how to solve cryptic crossword puzzles in the fine city of Norwich on the 7th September. Tickets here: thehollowaynorwich.com/events/RVb6g... Shares and word of mouth appreciated!

I set today’s Daily Telegraph Toughie crossword www.telegraph.co.uk/puzzles/ ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ and another sitcom ... ‘Not Going Out’? (4,4,7) Hitherto elegant, posing naked (2,3,10) In general, US nincompoops turning xenophobic? (7)

🥁🥁🥁 Coming Soon — a brand new cryptic crossword magazine we’re calling Unch. Interested? Sign up for email updates at unchcrosswords.com to find out more. And we’d love it if you could repost this to your own followers 👍

Congratulations to the vein in Joey Barton's temple for another standout performance. #Lionesses